Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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72. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he or his Departmental officials have met with representatives of the fishing vessel owners' organisations since March 2022 to discuss the review of the atypical work permit scheme for non-EEA fishers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44828/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Justice led a cross-departmental group to Review the Atypical Working Scheme and my Department has taken an active part in this process. The Group consulted extensively with stakeholders in relation to their views and experiences of the scheme.

Officials of my Department met with representatives of the sector including fishing vessel owners organisations on 22nd July last to discuss the review.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the issuing of work permits; the number of applications that are currently waiting to be processed in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44959/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times.

From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which itself represented an 11 year high in applications. 16,275 employment permits were issued in 2021, and a total of 17,968 applications processed, which represents a significant volume of activity. This increased demand was also driven by the extension of categories of employment permits following the Review of the Occupational Lists in October 2021.

The Department and I recognised the impact delays in the processing times for employment permits has had for businesses and their workers. Therefore, an internal plan of action was implemented which has increased resources and implemented more efficient methods of processing applications in the permits system. The processing team has trebled in size and daily output has more than tripled compared to 2021 levels.

Since the implementation of this plan, the Employment Permits Unit has made positive progress by reducing the number of applications awaiting processing from c. 11,000 in January 2022 to approximately 2,500 today, despite further strong growth in demand during 2022 for permits.

The table below details the number of Employment Permits by permit type currently awaiting processing.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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77. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will outline the improvements that have been made to introduce a minimum time for the processing of applications for work permits for non-EEA workers in the hospitality sector in which there is a critical shortage of available skilled workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45010/22]

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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78. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has deployed additional staff to the employment permit section of his Department in 2022 to reduce the backlog in work permit applications and to enhance the level of engagement with applicants to ensure completed applications are not rejected due to a clerical error or omission in the application form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45012/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 78 together.

My Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which itself represented an 11 year high in applications. 16,275 employment permits were issued in 2021, and a total of 17,968 applications processed, which represents a significant volume of activity. This increased demand was also driven by the extension of categories of employment permits following the Review of the Occupational Lists in October 2021.

My Department and I recognised the impact delays in the processing times for employment permits has had for businesses and their workers. Therefore, an internal plan of action was implemented which has increased resources and implemented more efficient methods of processing applications in the permits system. The processing team has trebled in size and daily output has more than tripled compared to 2021 levels.

Since the implementation of this plan, the Employment Permits Unit has made positive progress by reducing the number of applications awaiting processing from about 11,000 in January 2022 to under 2,500 today, despite further strong growth in demand in 2022 for permits.

Processing times for Critical Skills applications from Trusted Partners have fallen from 21 weeks to 3 weeks with Standard applications reduced to 4 weeks. General Employment Permit applications for Trusted Partners fell from 22 weeks to 3 weeks with Standard applications reduced from 22 weeks to 4 weeks.

The Employment Permits Unit proactively seeks to minimise the level of incomplete or incorrect applications submitted by those accessing the permits system. User guides are in place to assist applicants and a range of dedicated checklists have been developed setting out the requirements involved in applying for different employment permits.

The Department also provided comprehensive information on its website in relation to all aspects of the Employment Permits system. In addition, the Employment Permits Unit conduct dedicated online awareness sessions for representative groups to develop greater awareness in submitting employment Permit applications, in order to seek to reduce the number of incomplete or incorrect applications received. The Employment Permits Unit also actively engage with applicants directly in relation to incomplete or incorrect applications received.